by Curtis Eye, Sal Christ, LUENA RODRIGUEZ-Feo, Vileira Carley Petesch

President Donald Trump is bestowing ceremonial pardons on two turkeys before flying to his private Florida resort on Tuesday to celebrate Thanksgiving. The holiday interlude comes during what has been a turbulent and uncertain chapter of his second term.

The turkey pardon, bestowed this year to birds Waddle and Gobble, is a presidential tradition dating back decades.

But Thanksgiving may not provide Trump with much political respite after Democrats won sweeping victories in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere earlier this month.

In Washington, the president faces the possibility of a splintering Republican coalition ahead of next year’s midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. Abroad, Trump is struggling to advance a plan to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the U.S. military is poised to target Venezuela with military strikes.

Holiday meals, meanwhile, could cost more this year despite the president’s insistence otherwise — a reminder of persistent frustration with elevated prices.